NOTEBOOK

EXAMINER NEWS SERVICES

Published 4:00 am, Tuesday, April 7, 1998

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Ray Miller will just have to grit his teeth.

The Baltimore manager, who's said he hates the pomp and circumstance surrounding season openers, had one more to endure Tuesday. A week after Kansas City beat the Orioles 4-1 in the season opener at Baltimore, the same teams were scheduled to hook up in Kauffman Stadium in the Royals' 30th home opener. The Orioles haven't lost since that opener.

The Royals, on the other hand, seem to like openers. They'll be looking for their third straight victory in openers this year. They spoiled Minnesota's home debut last Friday.

OPERATING EXPENSES: So why would someone buy into a business where you pay employees millions of dollars a year? Documents filed by the Cleveland Indians in preparation for a public stock offering offer $22.57 million clues - that was the team's 1997 net income. Here's where the money came from.

The Indians took in $49.2 million from tickets last season, getting an average of $15.73 per ticket. They received $17 million from local broadcasting, $15.5 million from baseball's central fund (primarily national broadcasting money), $14.1 million from concessions, $13.1 million from the postseason, $8.8 million from advertising and $8.7 million from luxury suites.

As far as those salaries went, Cleveland spent $66.1 million on its major-league roster.

CUBANS ON BOARD: Cleveland and Seattle each have signed a Cuban defector, with outfielder Osmani Santana going to the Indians and catcher Francisco Santiesteban going to the Mariners.

Santiesteban, who defected last November while the Cuban team toured Colombia, is considered one of the top Cuban prospects.

45-6 record from 1995-97 in Seattle, he has a history of being a fast starter. A year ago, he was 3-0 in five starts in April. For his career, he's 20-9 in Apri&lt;